Bedspring



Nov. 30, 1937. L. H. HAMILTON BEDSPRING 195e 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed March 9 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 30, 1937. L. H. HAMILTON 2,100,393

` BEDSPRING v Filed March 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v v INVENTOR.

v LA//v/QEA/cE/- HAM/LTo/v BYWLCMLM ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov.' 3i), 19,37

PATENT orric BEpsrmNG Lawrence n. Hamilton, Nues, Mich., asignar to National Standard Company, Niles, Mich a corporation of Michigan Application March 9, 193s, serial No. 01833 1 claim. (cl. 5-230) This invention relates to springs, and is illustrated as embodied in a novel bed spring or the like intended to support a mattress, and which is especially useful in supporting an inner-spring" mattress which itself includes a set of coil springs.

One difficulty` of supporting an inner-spring mattress is that the springs used therein are relatively small in diameter, and if the mattress is supported on a bed spring having relatively wide spaces in its surface (asfor example between the upper ends ofthecoil springs) there is danger that the springs in the mattress may tend tobe pushed downthrough the mattress into the underlying spaces. 0n the other hand,

if a wire or other fabric is placed over the upper ends of the coil springs of the bed springs, thev ability of the bed spring to adjust itself to and support individually different weights, or weights differently placed, is greatly diminished. An object of the present invention is to provide -asbed spring orthe'like having the greater part of its upper surface arranged yieldin'gly to support loads, with no spaces of substantial area in which the loads are unsupported, and without interfering withv the individual action of the several coil springs.l Various constructions for l achieving this object are described below, which s constructions include (associated with the usual rows of coil springs) yielding bands or tapes of wire arranged substantially in the plane of the upper ends of the coil springs.

I prefer to use, for these yielding bands, openmesh spring wire braids, each comprising wires Y extending the full length of the braid and passed alternately over and under the jother wires, and

which are compressed at the bends along the edges of the braid beyond the elastic limit of the steel, to set the braid in a series of spring loops,

whereby the entire braid becomes an elastic at supporting band adapted to be tensioned between the siues of thevusual frame surrounding the coil springs. However, some cfg-the advantages of the invention caribe attained with other forms of yielding bands.

The above-described yielding bands may. be .arrangedbetween the rows of coil springs, or overlying the rows of coil springs, and'preferably are Asomewhat softer than the' coil springs so that the latter carry themajor part of the load. These and other constructions, and various other objects and features of the invention, will be apparent from the following description of the illustrative embodiments shown 1n the accom- 55 panying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of part of a bed 'spring embodying one form of the invention;

Figure 2 isa partial section therethrough'on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of part of a'bed 5 spring embodying a second form of the invention Figure 4 is a section vertically through one of the coil springs in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is atop plan view of a supporting disk mounted on the upper end of the coil spring of 10 Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a top plan 'view of part of a bed spring embodying a third form of the invention;

Figure '7 is a partial section showing two of the coil springs oi Figure 6,`with the means for tying 15 them together; a

y'Figure 8 is a partial vertical section, on an enlarged scale, through a spring ofthe form. of Figure 1, with an inner-spring mattress supported thereon; 20

Figure 9 is a sectional view showing inside elevation-one of the4 yielding wire braids;

Figure 10 is a top plan view thereof; and I Figures 11 and 12 are partial top plan views of other forms of yielding wire bands which can beA 25 used.

The novel bed spring shown in Figures 1 and 2 includes the "usual series of coil springs I0, arranged in rows with each row supported by suitable transverse stampings or other lower sup- 30 ports l2, and with a suitable upper frame ll (for example ofsteel stampings riveted together) surrounding them substantially in the plane of their upper ends.

The illustrated springs l0 have their upper ends 35 formed in a spiral substantially in that plane, so that there is no substantial open space inside the periphery of each spring at its upper end. The springs lli may be tied together in any desired manner, for exampleA as described below in con- 40 nction with Figures 3 and 6.

According to an important feature 'of the present invention, the space between the rows of springs Ill, at their upper ends, is occupied by spring wire tapes or bands I6 tensioned between 45 the opposite sides of frame I4, and which are arranged substantially in the plane ofthe upper ends of the coil springs Ill. The fiat spring bands I6 are preferably somewhat more yielding than thecoil springs I0, so that the latter carry the major part of the load. These bands I6 are `arranged both lengthwise and crosswise of the bed spring, being shown woven alternately over 'and under each other. Y

I prefer to use the form of yielding spring wire 55 sisting of braids of spring steel wire expanded 'is formed.

Some of the advantages of the invention can -l tapes or bands shown' in Figures 9 and i0, conwidthwise (except at their ends) to spread the wires apart and givea considerable width. The

ends are `provided with clips I8 for attaching the ends o! the braid to the-sides -of the frame Il.

Each braid consists of a series of wires,` each extending for the full length of the braid, and which extend alternatelyA over andunder the other wires. 'Ihe braid, formed with an'open mesh, or expanded widthwise, may be made of spring steel wir'e' heavily compressed so that the return bends of the wires at the opposite edges of the braid are compressed beyond the yelastic limit ofthe steel, to set the wire in a series of interbraided spring loops, so that the braid is elastic lengthwise like a rubber band. Elongation of the braid under load, of course temporarily contracts the braid widthwise, but not suiliciently to interfere with its cooperative load-suppoi'ting function. Alternatively the 'expanded' or openmesh braid may be made of high-carbon' wire drawn while soft, and tempered after the braid be obtained with other types of spring steel bands or tapes, for example one formed by a` single spring steel wire -wavedcrosswise of the band and formed at the sides of the band with closed eyes or loops as shown in Figure 11, ora similar wire 22 formed with open loops as shown in Figure 12. The braid I6 has the advantages, however, of increasing in eective tensile strength as it yields under load, so that it is in effect stiffer under a heavy load than under a light load.

Figure 8 illustrates how the above-described bed springv fully supports all parts of an innerspring mattress 24, made `up with inner coil ksprings 26. Usually each ,spring 26 is ingel cloth cell 28, and all ofv them-are held together by the enveloping mattress material.

In the arrangement of Figures 3, 4,' and 5, each coil spring Illl o! the bed spring supports a disk or stamping 30 slotted to have the braids IIB threaded therethrough in opposite directions. In Ithis case the' braids IIS verlie the rows of coil -springs lili instead of being between them. The coil springs III) are shown tied together `by small tensioned coil springs 32- inra.' manner well known in this art.

In the arrangement of Figures 6 and 7', the spring braidsl2l6 are shown arranged crosswi'se of the bed spring only, and the upper` ends oi the coil springs 2H) are tied togetherby helical springs 34 threaded through themso as to 'encircle the adjacent portions of the top coils of each adjacent pair of coil springs 2li), as sho in Figure 7.'

While several illustrative embodiments have l is claimed in my application No. 109,841, led" November 9, 1936, as' a continuation in". part hereof. A

` I claim:

A spring structure comprising a plurality of rows ofcoil springs, means interconnecting said springs, upper and lower frames i surrounding said springs and the lower Aof which is provided with means supporting the lower vends of said springs", and lengthwise-yieldand otherwise freely movable relative to said springs and each of which comprises a braid made up of spring steel wires each 'extending the full length of the support and carried alternately over and under each other diagonally of" the braid and which are spread aliart to -.form a relatively wide mesh and which bend back across the braid at the edges thereof andare-permanently set beyond'the elastic limit Iof the steel at lsaid edges to form in effect a large number of small springs yieldablev in the plane oi' the braid.

LAWRENCE H, HAMmroN. 

